2022 Locals’ Local Fund benefiting the Monadnock Mobile Food Pantry

Locals’ Local Fund: Getting Fresh and Local on the Monadnock Mobile Food Pantry

History:
One of the Monadnock Region’s greatest assets is our abundance of local farms and food businesses and the resilience of our food system.  The COVID-19 pandemic caused this system to be challenged.  Beginning in 2020, local farm product sales were disrupted as markets, restaurants and other income-generating avenues were significantly reduced.  Farms also often rely on direct-to-consumer sales through farmers markets and CSAs to make a living, all of which were negatively impacted. Despite these challenges, many farmers reached out to contribute healthy food to the neediest among us.

Many families and children in the Monadnock Region experience food insecurity which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. According to Feeding America, the overall food insecurity rate in Cheshire County was 9.5% in 2019 and the rate for children was 12.7%.1 These rates are higher than the state averages which were 8.8% and 10.9% respectively.

The Food Access Alliance (Alliance), a work group of the Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition, led two initiatives to address resiliency for farms and communities experiencing food insecurity: a feasibility study for a mobile food pantry and a comprehensive food access analysis of hunger in our region.

Key findings from initiatives include:

• Community partners are enthusiastic and committed to the success of a mobile food pantry.
• The mobile food pantry would partially address a serious service gap in the Monadnock Region given increased unemployment, lack of transportation infrastructure, local pantries operating very limited hours with limited or no fresh produce offerings, lower than national average participation of eligible households in SNAP/EBT and other food assistance programs, low minimum wage, and high housing costs.
• Over 300 individuals experiencing food insecurity stated access to fresh vegetables, dairy, and meat was highest priority in meeting adequate nutritional needs.

The Locals’ Local Fund will support local producers who will be selling fresh, local food at a negotiated price to the Monadnock Mobile Food Pantry.  Although other programs offer some level of support to farm produce sales in the state, such as New Hampshire Feeding New Hampshire, the scale of these programs will not provide significant market support for Monadnock farmers in the short-term.

The Locals’ Local Fund will help ensure that local farmers and producers will be able to sell their products at a fair price contributing to the resilience of the regional food system.  The Fund will be managed by the Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition in collaboration with The Community Kitchen, Inc., the operational partner for the mobile food pantry.

The Monadnock Mobile Food Pantry is committed to strengthening an equitable and ecologically sound local food system in collaboration with local farmers, food hubs and food advocacy organizations.

Want to make an offline donation? Please make your check out to Cheshire County Conservation District (Memo: Mobile Food Pantry) and mail it to CCCD, 11 Industrial Park Drive, Walpole, NH 03608